Like nearly all other areas of knowledge and commerce, the field of agriculture is subject to continual improvements in techniques and related equipment. This is certainly the case in harvesting implements, where the scythe, rake and pitchfork have gradually given way to increasingly automated methods of picking up and collecting crop elements.
One are of harvesting relates to concentrating the desired crop objects into convenient locations in order to facilitate collection in another step. By concentrating the desired objects, more compact collection equipment may be utilized, with a consequent savings in energy, machinery costs and efficiency.
Some crops, most particularly nuts, are typically harvested by shaking or otherwise dislodging the nut components from the trees such that they are then lying on the ground. Harvesting machines of various types then cover the ground area and collect the nuts for transport and further processing. Auxiliary “concentrators” may be used with these machines in order to collect from a wider swath of ground and to concentrate the objects into a narrower zone for more efficient pick up.
Various prior art attempts to provide harvesting concentrators have been used over time, with many specifically relating to nut harvesting. Numerous US patents have been granted for nut harvesting equipment and various commercial adaptations of concentrators have been used in the fields. However, all have had drawbacks in efficiency of collection, complexity and/or durability.
Accordingly, there is significant room for improvement and a need for better implements for concentrating and directing loose crops, particularly nuts, into collection equipment.